Chapter 103 – Strength Reaching Five Million Jin, Divine Power Vine!

His Elemental Force mastery had advanced to the Entwinement level, directly doubling the amplification that Elemental Force provided to his strength!

Su Xing’s pure physical strength now reached 2.5 million jin, which meant that after entwining himself with Elemental Force, the explosive power he could unleash would reach five million jin!

And this was merely the boost that Elemental Force provided to strength alone.

Beyond the increase in strength, Su Xing could now entwine Elemental Force around any part of his body—for example, his skin! By entwining it around the skin of his abdomen, Su Xing’s abdominal defense could be doubled for a short period, lasting until his Elemental Force was depleted!

The same applied to his arms, his back—the effect was identical.

The only somewhat regrettable thing was that Su Xing had just stepped into the Entwinement level and couldn’t yet achieve full-body Elemental Force entwining.

Once he could achieve full-body entwining, Su Xing would essentially be wearing an invisible suit of heavy armor, his defensive power skyrocketing!

“Tsk tsk, no wonder Elemental Force is valued so highly. The reason Body Tempering cultivators are so powerful must be intimately connected to Elemental Force!”

Su Xing murmured briefly. He finally understood—a Body Tempering cultivator with Elemental Force was the complete form, the only way to truly unleash the full might of Body Tempering!

“Entwinement-level Elemental Force is something only Divine Power Realm cultivators are supposed to be able to master, yet through a twist of fate, I’ve mastered it ahead of time. My luck really isn’t bad!”

Su Xing was in high spirits and opened his Class User panel for a look.

【Name: Su Xing】

【Age: 21】

【Class: Immortal Cultivator (Unique Hidden Class)】

【Cultivation: Nascent Soul Stage, First Layer; Primordial Martial Realm, Seventh Layer】

【Techniques: Eternal Spring Art, Core Condensation Technique Secret Method】

【Talents: Spontaneous Epiphany, King of Gluttons, Wood-Fire Dual True Spirit Root, Innate Divine Strength, Lucky Streak, Peerless Adonis (omitted)…】

【Skills: Separation Fire (Minor Mastery-level), Alchemy (Minor Mastery), Spirit Burst (Minor Mastery), Shennong Spirit Cultivation Technique (Not Yet Initiated), Fifty-Zhang Divine Sense (Five Senses Realm), Elemental Force Mastery (Entwinement Level)】

Sure enough, on his panel, Elemental Force Mastery (Entwinement Level) was categorized under the skills section.

Counting them up, Su Xing now possessed a considerable number of offensive methods. Separation Fire Technique and Elemental Force were both devastating weapons in their own right—only his self-created Spirit Burst was slightly inferior.

“Tsk tsk, compared to my Body Tempering cultivation, my Nascent Soul Stage, First Layer Qi Refinement cultivation actually seems a bit lacking now…”

Su Xing furrowed his brow slightly. His short-term goal was to cultivate both his Body Tempering and Qi Refinement to the Perfection level of their current realms, then find a way to break through to the Deity Transformation and Divine Power Realm.

At that point, with the dual enhancement of both Body Tempering and Qi Refinement, he would go settle his score with Old Dog Zong! Once he killed Old Dog Zong, he would certainly inherit Old Dog Zong’s legacy, and his strength would surely leap forward once more—a virtuous cycle!

“Sigh, the goal is beautiful, but I still need to keep my feet on the ground!”

Su Xing let out a sigh and deftly brought out his alchemy furnace to begin refining pills.

It was the same tedious pill-refining life as always. Su Xing employed Dual Focus, simultaneously refining two furnaces of pills at once, producing over five thousand pills in just one week.

Su Xing even found time between pill-refining sessions to plant the Divine Power Vine.

As the primary ingredient for the mid-grade Divine Power Pill, the Divine Power Vine was surprisingly less labor-intensive to cultivate than Spirit-Gathering Flowers.

Simply put, as long as Su Xing watered it every few days, the thing would grow vigorously.

The only headache was that the Divine Power Vine grew extremely slowly, requiring over a hundred years to mature. Even with the Plant Affinity bonus, it would still take twenty to thirty years.

A week quickly passed, and Su Xing emerged from the Blessed Spirit Field, heading toward the familiar Tarot Society villa.

“Sigh, it’s already been several months of this two-point commute. Every day it’s either pill refining or simulating… when will this ever end!”

Su Xing let out a sigh. Though he was an immortal cultivator, he still retained his humanity and felt boredom and tedium.

This weekly two-point routine even reminded him of his senior year of high school in his previous life.

“Ah, my strength is just too low! Once I get a bit stronger, maybe I can go explore various dungeons…”

Su Xing shook his head slightly, once again giving himself a pep talk.

Arriving at the familiar villa, he entered the private room.

Jin Congxue had been waiting for quite a while. Today she wore a set of yoga athletic wear, the form-fitting yoga outfit accentuating every curve of her figure.

Su Xing’s eyes lit up when he saw her. This weekly meal with Jin Congxue was one of his few moments of relaxation.

They quickly finished eating and got down to business.

Jin Congxue produced a storage ring and said:

“These are the equipment the Tarot Trading Company produced last week, along with the dungeon junk we purchased… Speaking of which, what do you want so much dungeon junk for?”

Su Xing took the ring and said with a cheeky grin:

“To find hidden treasures among the junk, of course! Isn’t that the dream every junk collector has?”

Jin Congxue burst out laughing at his words. “Is that so? I thought you were buying it all to eat again!”

Su Xing rolled his eyes, then handed over the pills he had refined that week to Jin Congxue.

Then something suddenly occurred to Su Xing, and he asked: “Xue-jie, what do you think about us contracting a few dungeon mining zones that specifically produce exotic metal? Do you think that could work?”

Jin Congxue was briefly stunned, then teased: “Oh my! Acquiring dungeon mining zones—our big boss has quite the ambition! You just finished swallowing up the Lingyun Merchant Association, and now you want to acquire mining zone dungeons. Are you planning to take down the Jin Commerce Group within a few years and become a top-tier trading company?”

Su Xing felt a bit guilty hearing this. The person before him was, after all, the eldest daughter of the Jin Commerce Group. Replacing the Jin Commerce Group and becoming the top trading company was something he could think about privately, but definitely shouldn’t say out loud.

“Ahem, just tell me whether it’s feasible or not! Mining exotic metal is mainly for my personal needs. We just won’t sell any externally…”

After hearing Su Xing’s words, Jin Congxue pondered for a moment before responding:

“It’s not impossible. Exotic metal is a controlled material—besides the government, very few trading companies dare to mine it.”

“However, every year they do release a batch of secondary exotic metal mining zone dungeons that can produce Grade 1 exotic metal and small quantities of Grade 2 exotic metal…”

“The application process is rather troublesome though. Our Tarot Trading Company is a first-tier trading company, so we barely qualify, but we’d still need Great Xia government approval!”

Su Xing nodded upon hearing this. He knew that Jin Congxue’s maternal grandfather was none other than Lu Yuanwu, the illustrious Martial Emperor of the Great Xia Military. With that background, Jin Congxue was destined to become a heavyweight in both the military and business worlds!

“Xue-jie, just tell me if you can make it happen! There’s nothing in this world that my Xue-jie can’t accomplish!” Su Xing blinked his eyes and pleaded.

Jin Congxue rolled her eyes and said: “That honeyed tongue of yours! Let me be clear upfront—I can’t guarantee this will work out. I do have some resources that can get us access to mining zone dungeons…”

“But the approval process for these dungeons is very troublesome. It would take at least three to five months before we could fully contract a dungeon and start mining.”

“And contracting a mining zone dungeon isn’t a small figure—it would cost at least several hundred billion at minimum…”

Su Xing patted his chest confidently upon hearing this: “Don’t worry, leave the money to me! Xue-jie, you just focus on leveraging your connections!”

Jin Congxue nodded, effectively agreeing to the matter.

After the meal ended, Su Xing returned to the school. Taking advantage of the fact that no one was around, he entered the Blessed Spirit Field.

Taking out the storage ring Jin Congxue had given him, Su Xing willed it and converted the white-grade equipment and dungeon junk inside into energy.

After the Lingyun Merchant Association acquisition was complete, Su Xing’s energy naturally couldn’t surge by tens of millions like before, but the advantage was a stable, steady stream of income.

Four hundred thousand pieces of white-grade equipment brought Su Xing 2.2 million energy points, and combined with the purchased dungeon junk, his energy increased by another 6 million points!

Thus, Su Xing now had approximately thirty million energy points remaining in the simulator.

On March 25th, 2024 of the New Era, Su Xing punctually activated a new round of simulation.

“Begin simulation!”

【Ding! This simulation consumes 2,900 energy points. Remaining energy: 30,031,550 points. Remaining simulation attempts: unlimited.】

【Simulation begins!】

【Drawing a green talent costs 1,000 energy points, a blue talent costs 10,000 energy points, drawing a purple talent costs 100,000 energy points. Would you like to draw?】

“Do I even need to think about it? Obviously I’m drawing a purple talent! Who do you think you’re looking down on?”

Su Xing immediately replied, and a notification chimed in his ears.

【Ding, congratulations! You have obtained the purple talent: Dragonslayer!】

【Dragonslayer】: You are a natural bane of dragonkind. All creatures with dragon bloodline will involuntarily feel fear upon seeing you. All damage you deal to dragon-type creatures is increased by fifty percent!

“Hm? The Dragonslayer talent? This seems like a buff-type talent!”

Su Xing carefully read through the Dragonslayer talent’s description and found that it was straightforward—specifically designed for dealing with dragon-type creatures.

“But the problem is… damn it, I’ve never even seen a dragon! Whether dragons even exist in this world is uncertain, so what am I supposed to do with this talent?”

Su Xing complained furiously.

“Maybe I’ll encounter dragons after entering the immortal cultivation world, but that’s way too far from now, isn’t it?”

Su Xing quickly made his decision. This talent could be kept in reserve, stored in his talent reward pool. When he needed it someday, he could select it then.

“Looking at it this way, I shouldn’t pick a talent reward from this simulation… Maybe I should first settle on a plan for the simulation.”

Su Xing thought it over. He felt that the two most urgent priorities were: first, finding a way to break through to the Divine Power Realm; and second, finding a way to increase the spiritual energy reserves in his Blessed Spirit Field.

With these two points in mind, Su Xing already had a preliminary plan for this simulation.

【In the Blessed Spirit Field, you realize you are in a simulation.】

【Week one: You carry out your routine of refining pills and cultivating spirit plants. Nothing special occurs.】

【Week two: You travel to the Luotian Assembly dungeon, and are fortunate enough to gain entry.】

【You enter the Luotian Assembly dungeon…】

Su Xing’s heart stirred when he saw this, and he quickly said:

“Activate immersive simulation mode, duration: two hours!”

【Ding, you have successfully activated immersive simulation. Cost: 200,000 energy points. Simulation duration: 2 hours. Remaining energy: 29,731,550 points.】

His vision shifted and transformed before his eyes.

Su Xing arrived inside the Luotian Assembly dungeon.

It was the same familiar quest flow as always. Su Xing made his way to the rear mountain and met his martial uncle, Shennong Youtian.

“Martial nephew Su, you’re here!”

Shennong Youtian was as warm as ever, chatting idly with Su Xing about this and that.

Su Xing listened quietly. When the moment was right, he couldn’t help but ask:

“Martial Uncle, I have a question I’d like to ask you… The Divine Power Vine is a spirit plant with an extremely slow growth cycle, requiring a hundred years before it can be used in medicine. Do you know of any way to accelerate its maturation?”

That’s right—this was precisely why Su Xing had used immersive simulation this time.

Spending time reading books in the Scripture Pavilion was all well and good, but the cost was simply too steep.

Su Xing had instead turned the Luotian Assembly into a dungeon for answering his questions. As long as he seized the right timing and rhythm, he could extract the answers he wanted from this Martial Uncle Shennong.

Like the previous guidance on cultivating Spirit-Gathering Flowers, or the question before him now.

Martial Uncle Shennong smiled upon hearing Su Xing’s question and asked:

“Martial nephew, are you about to break through to the Divine Power Realm in your Body Tempering cultivation? You want to refine Divine Power Pills, which is why you’re asking me about how to grow the Divine Power Vine?”

Su Xing nodded. That was indeed what he was thinking.

Shennong Youtian thought for a moment, then replied: “There are many methods for accelerating a spirit plant’s maturation. The most common is simply using wood-attribute spiritual energy to force-ripen it… As long as you continuously infuse wood-attribute spiritual energy day and night, even a plant like the Divine Power Vine can mature rapidly…”

“Beyond that, the Divine Power Vine prefers sunlight and dislikes shade, prefers dry conditions and dislikes moisture. Proper planting methods can also help the Divine Power Vine mature faster!”

After a pause, Shennong Youtian added:

“However, I’ve heard of a special trait that, when growing spirit plants, can increase their maturation speed several times over!”